Nonchalantness Neglects Novelty
Eli Kim, design editor
“I don’t care bro”, “bro is yapping”, “this is not tough”. These are all horrible things said by people who try their best to be “the toughest kid on the block”, or, some may say, nonchalant. Standing in a corner, wearing a hoodie and actively ignoring people are, surprisingly, all things that actively chase people away. Life isn’t a movie; no one wants to be around the guy who doesn’t care about anything. But ineptitude prevails, and the so-called “nonchalant” aren’t the only ones being affected by their lack of social cues as they act out conventional movie tropes.
This trend of being nonchalant began around the spring of 2024, mainly around the side of TikTok where many main characters in various media were seen as “calm” and “collected”. This, for some reason, was translated to “boring” and “apathetic”, and many people began to quickly shove their hands in their pockets and slouch wherever they went. Now, whenever someone tries to talk to such people, they are met with a double-layered defense: first getting through to their airpods and then them.
Being nonchalant is stupid. As corny as it sounds, people should actually care about each other. Apathy isn’t cool. It’s boring. The rise of nerd culture being perceived as attractive on social media is directly correlated to this growing “nonchalantness”. People like listening and people like talking, that is how basic conversations work and how they stretch on for hours. Even if it's something as boring as computer science, people would rather listen to that than have to make conversation with a brick wall (with AirPod Airs in). Doing things is the new cool, being something is the new cool.
“Don’t stop [doing things] [...] unless [it is] is stupid, then you should get [...] better”, said Kid President.
On another note, “yearners” are even worse. They are basically glorified male manipulators. “Does anyone even yearn anymore?” People oversaturate these types of words to the point where the original meaning is lost under layers and layers of misunderstanding. “Yearning” is just another microtrend for people who think they are smarter and deeper than others. You are not the thinker; you just happened to think of another psychological theory that thousands of other people have come up with. This is worse than being nonchalant because instead of not caring at all, they are just pretending to care and immediately drop the mask once they achieve their nefarious plans.
Nonchalantness doesn’t just drive people away; it actively hurts them. At some point during conversation, you’ll realize that your words fall on deaf ears and just stop talking all together. Is it really worth sacrificing your surrounding friends to surround yourself in an air of mystery? No one would touch that stuff with a 10-ft pole. People like being heard, it's quite literally human nature.
Junior Tasneem Ahmed said “being heard is being seen and having the desire to be seen transforms your life and leaves you starstruck.”
And then maybe one day these words will be heard by lots of people.